10 Dec 2015

 A 15-year-old visually-impaired athlete, Edwin Masuge, who scooped a silver medal in the 100m race during the ongoing Botswana Games, has vowed to reach even greater heights as a sportsperson.

Speaking in an interview just before receiving his medal  Masuge, a pupil at Matsieng Primary School in Mochudi, said now that he has qualified to participate at the Zone 6 competitions due to be held in Angola next year, his aim was to train harder so as to scoop gold.

He said after having improved his performance by attaining fifth position at the Paralympic Games held in Gaborone early this year he was happy to have now received a medal.

The Moshupa-born lad expressed contentment at the level at which his performance was gradually improving since joining athletics in 2013. He thanked the organisers of the games and other similar events for including people living with disabilities. He said such a move was in recognition of the fact that they too were capable of succeeding in sports just like their counterparts who do not live with disability.

Masuge however decried the disruption of their training during school vacation, noting that during the term they have access to training facilities and equipment as well as the assistance and support of their coaches but once they go home to their home villages during vacation they fail to train properly.

One of the coaches from Kgatleng where all the 42 visually-impaired athletes were coming from, Goitseone Nkepe said their athletes were highly passionate about sports and often exhibited great commitment to do even better.

Nkepe, who noted that their athletes participated in the 100m, 200m and 400m races, expressed happiness at their level of competitiveness, saying that they were now hopeful of doing well at the upcoming competitions that will be held in Angola.

She, however, indicated that a couple of challenges such as lack of proper equipment and shortage of training facilities which were hampering their effort to shape the future of their athletes.
The teacher also said although government was doing a lot to help them, assistance from other stakeholders would also go a long way in helping them reach for the stars.

On the representation of different regions by the Kgatleng-based athletes, Nkepe said they had taken into consideration that the regions from which the athletes originate also needed to benefit from their participation. Hence whatever medals the athletes received got registered in the medal count of the various regions they come from.

A coordinator of Children with Disabilities from the North East District, Thato Makhani said their wish was to see people with disabilities competing at the international stage, adding that catching the athletes young would make the dream a reality.

Citing some of the challenges they encounter as care-takers of these athletes, Makhani highlighted lack of exposure to big events something he said dealt a knock on the youngsters’ confidence whenever they have to compete among larger crowds.

On the technical side, he said the coaches and others who provide support and guidance to the children need more intense training that would enable them to properly handle them.

He however observed that not all was lost as government continued to hold workshops, seminars as well as officiating courses to equip sports officials who work hand-in-hand with disabled athletes with the necessary skills.

During the on-going games, the visually-impaired athletes were divided into three categories; T11 for the completely blind who run with the help of guides; T12 and T13, with the T12s being those who are extremely short-sighted and the T13s being slightly better sighted though still greatly challenged visually. Ends